This method doesn't seem to work, even though logically it should. If I delete all songs from the cloud using the above method, and then update iTunes Match, all of the songs that were in the cloud show up in iTunes again.

The reason this is an issue is I'm trying to force iTunes Match to attempt to match songs again, but if they've already been added to the iTunes match database they simply match with the songs in the database rather than Apple's iTunes store database.

Any ideas on how to truly clear the iTunes Match library? Thanks in advance...

I've had issues with this as well with a particular album. Even though I deleted from iCloud AND iTunes it still shows up in the cloud. Only a single album I'm having issues with, but would like to get this resolved if possible.

I'm trying this suggestion from "hixer" on the Apple dsicussions board now:

"I like this approach, but I would add one other thing that took me a bit to figure out. If you have a large library uploaded, leave your new blank iTunes open for a while. It takes almost as long to eliminate the iCloud library as it took to upload it, but if you close iTunes right away, this process stops.

I would do as above, and resign in, noting that a hundred or two of the 6000 songs would be deleted. But after I left the blank library open for a couple of hours, it was completely empty."

This method doesn't seem to work, even though logically it should. If I delete all songs from the cloud using the above method, and then update iTunes Match, all of the songs that were in the cloud show up in iTunes again.

The reason this is an issue is I'm trying to force iTunes Match to attempt to match songs again, but if they've already been added to the iTunes match database they simply match with the songs in the database rather than Apple's iTunes store database.

Any ideas on how to truly clear the iTunes Match library? Thanks in advance...

Click to expand...

You need to delete the song from the iTunes library AND from iCloud. You might actually want to send the files to the trash then get them back out and redrop them back into iTunes. iTunes Match matches your tracks to its iTunes library first. If it can't match it up for whatever reason, it'll upload it to your iTunes Match account. So if it's not matching the iTunes database then something about your track is different than what's in the Apple database. I was trying to get the 256k versions of some of the lower quality music I've ripped over the years. It took a few times of deleting it and redownloading from the cloud until it matched it to the 256k version in the iTunes database.

I've been using an empty iTunes library to delete form the cloud, so I'm pretty sure that's not the issue for me anyway. The above does seem to be doing the trick though--I'm down to only 5900 songs in the cloud, when there were 9500 at the start.

As hixer stated, it doesn't look like iTunes is doing anything, but if you just let it sit and do its thing it very gradually removes all of the songs from the cloud.

I'm glad you were able to get your songs to match after trying a few times. That's what I'm hoping for by going through all this!

The waiting trick has been working for me,but it does take a while. It probably took over an hour to delete all 9000 songs. Try this:

1. Click iTunes Match on the left hand iTunes menu. It should tell you how many songs are available in the cloud. Note this number.
2. Go back to music and delete some songs from the cloud. Wait 5 minutes without quitting iTunes.
3. Select 'update iTunes match' from one of the top menus (I forget which one)
4. Once that process is done go back to the Match side menu. The number of songs in the cloud should've decreased.

SECOND MACHINE - machine with access to iTunes Match
- Go to a second machine that does NOT have your local files but DOES have access to your iTunes match account.
- Enable iTunes Match
- Go to Music
- Select All
- Delete
- Make sure to "Check" to also delete from iCloud/iTunes Match

Since all the files on this second machine are on iCloud/iTunes Match only, you are actually deleting all of iCloud. Once you fix your library on the first machine you can re-enable iTunes match so all the new songs go to iCloud.

Just curious, what would be the purpose/benefit of doing this?
To reload the tracks again?

Click to expand...

Correct, here is why I did it.

When I fist uploaded my music to iTunes match I just told it to do all my music.

Since then, I have cleaned my music up and removed a bunch of duplicates and overall just made my library much more complete with real names vs Track 1 and album art. So I wanted to refresh my iTunes Match devices with the new better library.

Also if you do the reverse of my steps. Basically delete your local files and download the ones from iTunes Match your new files are upgraded to the 256Kbps versions.

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